Lemon Bars
August 1, 2015
4 Comments
A cool, refreshing, citrus lemon center on a light, buttery crust – Lemon Bars will satisfy any dessert craving.
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It’s scorching hot in DC.
Normally, on a day as hot as today, I would enjoy a cool vanillla ice cream, but sometimes, I just want something sweet and baked.
These lemon bars have a cool, refreshing, citrus center on a light and buttery crust. They are a great baked good for the dog days of summer.
On a fun note, I bonded with Chris’ dad over these lemon bars. His dad is the only one other one in the family who loves citrus desserts. I made these lemon bars for him a couple years ago. We both basked in their refreshing citrus glory. It was epic.
A couple of things you should know:
- I think the lemon zest adds a lot of flavor to the bars, so if you have lemons around don’t be shy about using them. If you only have lemon juice, don’t worry, the bars will still be great!
- Zesting the lemons is easiest when they are hard, so zest them soon after you take them out of the fridge.
- After you zest the lemons you’ll want to soften them before juicing them. I put the lemons on the counter and push down on them with the heel of my hand, getting my weight into it a little. While pressing down, I roll them around to get them ready for juicing.
- The bars are pretty lemony. In comparison to a typical lemon bar recipe, I halved the crust recipe, added a bit more lemon, and reduced the sugar. (Does that make them healthy lemon bars? Yes. We’ll go with yes. I’m sure you agree.)
Lemon Bars
Ingredients
Crust
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1 cup of flour
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2 tablespoons sugar
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½ cup unsalted butter softened
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½ teaspoon salt
Filling
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¾ cup sugar
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¼ cup flour
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4 eggs
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The juice and zest of 4 lemons
Topping
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Powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
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Prepare crust: In a medium bowl, stir together flour, sugar, and salt. Gentle combine with softened butter (I used my hands for this step). Press into the bottom of a 9x9 inch pan. Bake until crust is firm and golden brown, about 20-25 minutes. Set aside.
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In another medium bowl, whisk together the sugar and flour for the filling. Whisk eggs in one egg at a time. Whisk in lemon juice and zest. Pour mixture over baked crust.
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Bake for 30 minutes, bars will firm up while they cool. Let cool completely. Dust with powdered sugar and serve.
Celina
These look yummy! I was in DC over the spring, and it was very hot then, so I can just imagine how the weather is lately. Love your blog! Hope to see some autumn-inspired recipes soon 😀
Karen
Hi Celina! I hope you enjoyed your trip to DC — it’s definitely been sizzling hot here from May through August. I’m happy that the temperatures have finally started to cool off. It’s been around 70 degrees this October and this weekend we cooled off even more with highs of only 50 degrees! Fall is definitely in full swing and I’m loving it! 🙂
ZazaCook
These lemon bars look sooo delicious!! I would love to eat one right now!
Thanks for sharing the recipe 🙂
Karen
Thanks ZazaCook! I ended up making another batch after I posted the recipe myself. Looking at the photos made me need another batch pronto 🙂